Clean Energy Is Overtaking Coal in This Competitive Electricity Market

Look around the U.S. and you’ll find plenty of examples of smart policy that is driving the adoption of cleaner, more efficient energy resources. In particular, California , New York , and Illinois are all leveraging policy to reduce carbon pollution and transition to a 21st century electric grid. But in addition to those success stories, markets also are achieving significant clean energy results — and nowhere is that more evident than in Texas. In 2001, the Lone Star State transitioned to a competitive electricity market that (for the most part) puts the cheapest energy resources on the grid first. Since then, wind has grown from supplying less than 1 percent of the state’s electricity to over 20 percent for the first half of 2017. And as cheap natural gas remains plentiful and renewable costs keep falling, expensive coal is getting pushed out of Texas’ market. In fact, ...